A Torchic's Idenity
by Evil-Butterflylizard
Summary: a Torchic is born with the ability to speak human, will she be able to find a family in a world that wouldn't understand her? (Complete, but CC would be appreciated)
1. Shaky Beginings

Chapter 1: shaky beginnings

It all began in an egg, not an extraordinary egg, but not an ordinary one either. It was a bright orange egg with a creamy yellow on both ends. The egg was smooth, and like most other eggs, oval in shape. This egg rested on a bed of straw with other eggs which were just like it. These eggs were on a dark shelf, which was in a warm room, which was a part of a small house, just outside Lavaridge Town, A small community which was in the shadow of the majestic Mt. Chimney.

All of a sudden, the egg started to move a little, an make noises. It was getting ready to hatch and be born into the world. It wobbles a bit, but what it doesn't know, is that it's wobbling too close to the edge of it's shelf, it wobbles closer to the edge until it tips over it. Fall, fall, fall, the egg was plummeting towards the bottom and then... THUD! It landed on a stool. It didn't break the egg, but a big crack had formed its way around the greater part of it's shell. The egg made a high pitched peeping noise. It was then heard by somebody...

A girl had entered the small warm, dark room, she had long flowing chestnut hair, with two flower-like hair clips on either side, and an emerald skirt, she had heard the distressed egg and went to it's aid. She knelt down to pick it up, curiously, she wore no footwear, but gold bands around her ankles with pokeballs attached to them. She picked up the egg and examined it.

"This isn't too good at all..."

She took it to another room, it was similar to the first, but it didn't have that many shelves. She carefully peeled of some loose egg shell. The shell revealed orange and yellow down. The little creature inside was breathing and was thankfully alive and well. She took the hatchling to yet another warm dark room, and kept it in a straw-laden pen. It struggled to break of the remaining shell. After that was taken care of, it fluffed up her feathers to reveal itself to the world. It was a torchic.

"where am I?" she thought to herself.

"what am I?" She looked around, she saw some other orange fluffy things, much like herself. She walked towards them, the ground was soft and stringy, how straw was supposed to feel. She noticed her feet for the first time, they were relatively big compared to her, each had three long bird toes in the front and one in the back. She stumbled her way to the others, the others were huddled with each other under a heat lamp, peeping amongst themselves. She approached them and piped up:

"Do you know where we are?"

The torchics stopped peeping. They looked puzzled at the new torchic for a few minutes. One the older ones tilted it's head to one side and said

"Tor? Tor-chic-chic-chic?" (("who are you? How can you talk like that?"))

The other torchics started to peep amongst themselves. The newcomer was then had even more questions

"What do they mean?, I talk how I talk..." She asked "What are you?"

(("We are Torchics, a kind of pokemon")) said one the torchics, they said it in their own tongue, she understood it, but couldn't speak it herself.

"Pokemon?... Am I a Torchic as well?" She questioned in what was referred to by pokemon as the "human language".

(("You don't talk like us, therefore you aren't a torchic... You're probably not even a pokemon! You're probably a nothing!")) Another torchic shouted meanly at now shivering chick.

(("Robbie! Don't be mean to her like that, she is a something... But I don't know what though")) said another one.

(("She's a freak that's what, a human talking freak!")) The other torchics chimed in (("freak! freak! freak! freak!")) Of course, being called a freak wasn't very nice at all... She couldn't help it if she didn't talk like them at all.

Robbie spoke up, (("we don't like freaks in our group, GO AWAY AND STAY AWAY")) and with that he used an ember attack right at the newcomer's face. The hot particles of ash went into the young torchic's eyes, she flinched at them, causing her to scream, and her eyes started to gloss over with tears. They started to stream down her face, soaking the down on her small wings, and dripping onto her toes and the straw laden ground of the pen. She tried to run away from the cruel torchics as far as possible but she slammed herself against the wall of the pen. This only caused the torchics to laugh even harder

(("not only is she a freak, she's a klutz as well!! Ah-hahahahaha!!!")) The other torchics were really causing a ruckus. But the laughing stopped when a door opened up.

"What's going on in here?" a man entered the small room and turned towards the pen with the torchics. This man had denim overalls and a plaid shirt, and orange hair which was similar in colour to the torchics. For this was the torchic's breeder, a man who was sanctioned by the pokemon league to breed torchics to be one of the three beginner pokemon that beginning trainers can choose to train with, when they start their pokemon journeys. He wasn't a dangerous man, but the young torchic did not know that so she hid herself under the straw in the darkest part of the pen. The man came closer and crouched down to the torchic's level, the other torchics seemed happy to see him.

"I guess you're all excited aren't you? Tomorrow, you'll get to meet your new trainers and go on a big adventure in the big wide world, maybe you will all become pokemon champions. I'd be excited as well, but you'll need to get some sleep so you can be ready for the big day you'll have. Good night torchic" With that, he walked out of the room, almost all the torchics had fallen asleep under the heat lamp. Except for the one under the hay in the far corner of the room. She had been weeping to herself.

"Why do they hate me? Because I don't talk like they do?" She wept to herself as she wiped away some of her tears with her torchic foot, because her wings were far too small to be much use as they are. "It's not fair... I'm just like them! I can't help it if I can't talk like them..." With her face, feathers and feet wet with tears, she cried herself to sleep under the cold straw.


	2. lonely dream

Chapter 2: Lonely Dream

The young torchic had woken up... She was in a place which wasn't so different from the pen she had been sleeping in. It was a cold grey world. the sky was full of grey clouds. like a thunderstorm would happen any second. The air wasn't fresh like you would from being outside, it smelled exactly like the pen, warm and musty The ground felt cold, rocky, and it seemed barren, for there weren't many green plants. Only tall weeping willows which only added to the sadness of it. She seemed to be the only thing that was not cold and grey.

Being in this place made her feel miserable, so she wanted to get away from this place. She had stumbled a few times over some of the rocks that stuck out of the ground, but it didn't seem to hurt, she had already figured she was in a dream. She walked until she had found a small brook. She decided to get a drink, she had not eaten a thing since she first hatched, so by now she was pretty thirsty. The young torchic tried to find a good place, she didn't want to fall in, being a fire type, you wouldn't want to fall into a stream and drown.

When the chick pokemon had found a good spot to get a drink, She saw something that she had never seen before; her own face. It was round and orange, with a small beak and two round eyes and three yellow feathers on top.

"I don't seem so different from other torchics... Do I?. She was transfixed by the torchic staring back at her. Wanting to touch the image in the water, she extended a foot out and dipped her toes into the water. It was not warm like her face was supposed to be, but it was icy cold, and wet. She didn't like this much so she took it out., she also noticed that her reflection was gone. She waited for it to return, but it didn't so she decided to leave the brook. Before she did though thought she had heard someone calling.

"Darla..."

The young torchic perked up to the sound. The place she was in was very quite, there wasn't even any wind blowing. So any sound would have been noticeable. She looked around for who was making the sound:

"Darla..."

She heard it once more, it was coming from the east, so she ran towards the sound. Only s didn't really know who this "Darla" was. The young torchic did not think of it until now but she didn't have a proper name for herself.

Most pokemon don't even get special names, they usually only get called whatever pokemon they are, like "Torchic" or "Mudkip". Humans don't seem to call other humans "Human being" but they call them by unique names, such as "William" or "Laura". It isn't like this with pokemon, they don't seem to bother much with names, they simply call other pokemon by their species' name, or names that their human trainers have come up with. The latter however is more special, because it makes them more unique then others of there own kind, and it doesn't change when the pokemon evolves, it practically stays for life.

These were of course, very complicated issues for a torchic who was less then a day old, But somehow she knew the name being called out was meant for her. Darla... the name seemed so perfect for her, so she decided to name herself just that. Darla. From now on, her name was not simply known as "torchic" but now she would be known to the world as Darla! Darla now knew who the voice was calling for, and she also knew that there was someone, somewhere out there who wanted her. This was another thing that she wanted, someone to want her, to take care of her and most importantly, to love her for who she is...

A mother.

Darla did not want to be alone in this big wide world, she wanted someone who can be her friend, someone who she wanted to love and to love back unconditionally, even if she was considered a freak by everyone else. She would have that one person who would love her because of what made her different.

The small Torchic had been running towards the voice for quite some time, she noticed that the ground was no longer as rocky as it once was back at the brook. The ground was not as grey as everything else, and it was becoming softer, but was this a good thing? Her feet were progressively going deeper and deeper within the mud as she kept running, and occasionally a foot would get stuck within the deep mud and she had to pull it out. Both feet had become caked with mud and both seemed to get heavier and heavier with each step. It got to the point where she was getting exhausted from all the weight of the mud on her feet. Finally, she got completely stuck and couldn't move them.

"Ooh... I wish someone can help me!" Cried the small pokemon as she desperately tried to move her feet out of the soft muck, but the more she moved, the more stuck her feet became. She then saw something that really made her want to get out of the mud. A huge figure was moving towards her, this figure was not another torchic or even the farmer. It looked like it was a part of the mud itself, only it had a big long arm and a cavernous mouth. Darla tried struggled to move but it only made her more covered in mud, she fell on her stomach. She tried to push herself up with her wings but they were too small to be of much use, and only got stuck in the mud herself. Now she was in very deep trouble, there was a monster coming for her and she was completely unable to run away from it. The creature had come close enough to be smelled by the torchic, the smell of rotten waste and garbage filled her nostrils and she began to choke. The only thing she can do was scream. But this didn't do a thing, it only made the smell much more offensive. The monster then lunged straight at the terrified pokemon.

Darla suddenly woke up with a scream. She noticed that she was back in the straw-laden pen within a small room. She wasn't caked with mud anymore, although she seemed to be a bit wet, and was smelling of a faint ammonia smell. She also noticed that there was sunlight coming through a small window which was high up on a wall of the room. Most importantly, there were no monsters around, in fact, there didn't seem to be anyone in the room. The other torchics that were there the night before were gone. They must have already left to be someone's starter pokemon. There didn't seem to be anyone there... No one to was there to comfort her after her bad dream. She was alone, scared out her wits, wet, and smelled awful. Darla started to cry out to someone to someone she wanted but just wasn't there...

"MOMMY... MOMMY!!!" The small pokemon cried... If someone did not know that she was a pokemon, her voice could have easily been mistaken for a small child's cry. In a way though, she was a small child, only she didn't have anyone to be with her and to love her... She was completely all alone.


	3. Freedom and Friends at last

Chapter 3: Freedom and friends at last

Darla the Torchic had been through plenty in her less then a day of being alive, her egg had almost been scrambled, she was rejected by her fellow torchics on the grounds that she talks like a human being instead of a regular pokemon, and she had a dream. This dream may have scared her, but also gave her a purpose in life. She didn't want to be a just a pokemon, she wanted to be a human being as well. Or at least make something of herself. Right now though, she needed to find a way out of this place.

After she was done crying, she walked over to a food trough on the far side of the pen. There was still some corn kernels left from the night before. She never had any food since she hatched, so Darla was famished. After finishing up what remained of the corn, she tried to figure out how she could escape from this dank pen.

Unknown to Darla, she was not really alone in the torchic pen room. There were four beady eyes who had watching her since she woke up. A pair of them belonged to a ratatta, and the other pair belonged to a spinarak. The two pokemon were good friends who have been living in the pen house for quite a long time without the farmer not knowing. They had been watching Darla, and they somewhat felt sorry for her. So they had decided to both come out of hiding and to help her out.

The rattata scurried down from the wooden rafters, it's nimble paws were quiet enough not make a sound but sure enough not to let it fall to the ground. He then squeezed himself through the wiring of the pen and buried himself in the straw and approached the Torchic. She didn't notice the rattata until it was right behind her. Darla turned around and when she saw the rattata:

"AAAAHHH!!!" Screamed the frightened Darla

"RAAAAAA!!!" Screamed the equality frightened rattata

"Who are you? What are you" asked Darla, her heart was racing really fast from her encounter with the purple rodent pokemon.

Ratta Ratatta! (("I was just about to ask you that")) the rattata answered. He had felt a little silly for scaring the pokemon he was going to help.

"Um... I'm Darla, nice to meet you" Darla said in a polite manner as she calmed down. She wasn't used to being around other pokemon.

(("hi, I'm Rattata... Darla? That's a little weird... You named yourself?")) the rattata replied a bit perplexed, but after wondering about that he got down to why he came in the first place. (("do you any help getting out?"))

"Oh... That would be very helpful, thank you! Do you know a way out of this pen?" Darla asked, she was quite happy to find that there were some friendly people in the world she could trust.

(("Oh yeah, I know this old barn like the back of my paws, I know a few ways out of this place...")) the rattata explained a number of different exit routes to get out of the pen, only most of them were too difficult to get through. The doorway was locked tight, but even if it were not, she was too small to reach the door handle. She looked at the window, she saw that it was completely open. This would be the perfect escape. The only problem was that this window was quite high. However, there were some boxes that were piled up. They could be like steps upward towards the window and freedom. It would be easy for a four-legged pokemon like rattata, but it would prove difficult for the two-legged torchic. Nevertheless, she would have to take that chance if she wanted to escape.

The first thing they did was to turn over the food trough, this made a good step up so they could get over the pen gate. Darla got help getting up by using Rattata as a step, she then pulled Rattata up by using her beak. The two pokemon then got up on top of the pen gate, Rattata jumped down pretty quickly, but Darla couldn't seem to follow.

(("What's the matter?")) Rattata asked impatiently as he waited for Darla to jump.

"I...I...I can't seem to m..m..m..move... I d..d..don't want to f..f..fall down..." Darla stammered as she looked at her Rattata friend down below, the drop was only two and a half feet, but to Darla, it seemed too high for her. She may have remembered falling and hitting the ground when she was still in her egg. Darla must now have a paralysing fear of heights, this would make climbing out the window a lot more difficult and a lot more scary for the young torchic.

(("oh... Um... Just wait right there, and when I tell you, close your eyes and jump, you won't get hurt, I promise!")) the Rattata quickly found a burlap sack that had corn inside, this would make a soft landing. He grabbed it with his overgrown incisors and dragged it directly over the petrified pokemon who tried to keep her balance on top of the gate by clutching the top with her feet.

(("Okay, jump when I say "now, okay Darla? NOW!"))

The chick pokemon closed her eyes, and she let go of the gate. She fell forward, and landed with a soft thud onto the sack. The kernels inside made a scratching sound inside the bag. Now that that was over it, now came the difficult bit. Climbing up to the small window, this would be hard because it was quite high up, the two pokemon would have to crane their heads upward to see it, and for a pokemon with a phobia for heights, this would be very hard.

"I don't think I can climb that high... I'll probably fall" Darla said this in a near whiny tone of voice. The rattata's patience was beginning to wear thin... Darla hadn't done anything but complain or cry over something, but then again, she was only a day old, so he had to bare with it.

(("well, all you need to do is to jump upward onto a higher box, it's easy")) Rattata tried to calm the nervous torchic as best he could.

The two pokemon climbed up the stacks of boxes, the rattata in front and Darla behind him. Climbing the boxes was very easy for the rattata because he's done this many times already, when living in a place where you are not wanted, it's best to know your way around the place and to find good hiding spots. Darla on the other hand was having this a little tougher, she never really climbed up much before now, and her fear of heights didn't help much, often she was tempted to look down, but she knew she wouldn't be able to move on up or worse, she could lose her balance and fall. So she gingerly reached her foot to a higher box, feeling for a secure hold with her toes. Then with her beak, she then grabbed the edge of the box and lifted herself up to it. Climbing would be a lot easier if her arms were not so small and near useless as they are now. So slowly, but steadily, the two climbed higher and higher to reach for the window to freedom.

They were almost up to the window, Darla reached and grabbed another box with her toes and started to hoist herself up, but the box slipped from her and tipped over. Darla started to scream for her life as she tipped over, lost her balance and started to plummet towards the floor. The corn sack was not there to break her fall this time. It was a very long drop to the bottom, probably an even longer drop then when she was still in her egg. Down, down, down she fell, until she didn't seem to fall anymore. From above the beams that made the roof shot out a strand of silk, it came down and caught the terrified torchic by the ankle. The strand was light enough so it couldn't be seen unless you looked close enough, but strong enough to catch and hang on to things which were heavy, like a pokemon. It was a spinarak web.

"Spin-Spinarak!" (("I got you, don't struggle. You might break it.")) The spinarak was struggling hard to hold the flailing torchic. He was watching Darla and the Rattata so if they got into any trouble, the he could help them anyway. He slowly moved along the beams which held up the roof slowly. He had to be careful that the thread did not break and Darla fall once again. He placed Darla right on the window sill, so Darla escape. There was only one more obstacle that remained in her way to freedom. getting down from the window. Luckily though, there was a stack of hay that was conveniently placed just outside the window, so all Darla did was to close her eyes, be brave, and to take that leap of faith. She landed with a soft landing and slid down the haystack.

She did it, she was finally free from that room. The outdoors seemed wonderful to her. The midday sun was shining brightly in the big blue sky that seemed to go on forever. The grass smelled sweet and the dew on them was making her torchic toes a little cold and wet, but she didn't mind at all, in fact she loved it. She absolutely loved being free, free from being inside a dark room and also from being forced to take orders from others. She was now her own pokemon, free to make her own decisions.

"Thank you so very much, I would have probably stayed inside that scary room forever if it wasn't for you!" The young torchic said in human with deep gratitude, it was the nicest thing anyone has ever done for her in her short life. She was overjoyed that the world was not a cruel and frightful place she thought it was. Tears of joy ran down from her face as she said good bye to the rattata and spinarak who saved her life, she was now determined to go out and to make her mark on the world and to make a name for herself. She was a pokemon with a special ability, and nothing was going to get in her way of achieving her goal to get a family of her own, and her own identity.


	4. The World Outside

Chapter 4: the world outside

The world outside was very different from the world inside. It was a bright and sunny day, it was the kind of day that most people and pokemon wished could last forever. Darla absolutely loved it. The sunlight on her feathered body made her happy, the fresh air invigorated her, and she really liked the feeling of the grass and ground under her feet. Now that she was outside, she wanted to know where she was exactly. She didn't really know where to go first. After walking aimlessly for a few minutes, she noticed a large rock. It was grey slab that was nearly flat on one side that reached to a peak on top, then it continued steeply to the ground on the other side. "I don't really want to climb that high, but I need to know where I am" Darla thought to herself, so she had no choice but to climb the rock. So very carefully, she climbed up the flat side of the rock, putting one foot in front of the other very slowly. There wasn't a great drop below, but for some reason, she needed to keep her balance. After climbing to the top, she finally got a look around.

From upon the rock, Darla found out that she was on a gently sloping mountainside. To the north, she saw the farm where she was born. It was small building, quaint some would call it, but she shuddered when she looked at the place, many painful memoires, but there were some good memoires as well, the Rattata and the Spinarak that lived there, would they be all right? Darla thought as she looked back at the place of her birth. She could also see Mt. Chimney. It was a steep mountain which always bellowed clouds of smoke and ash, but because of prevailing winds, the smoke and ash was constantly getting blown towards the north side of the mountains. Leaving the south side's environment pristine and fresh. All around Darla, grass and trees flourished. The smell of different plants mingled with the fresh air.

Then Darla noticed something, just south of her was a patch of wildflowers. These were probably one of the most beautiful things that she's seen in her life. After carefully climbing down the rock, she ran over to get a closer look. The flowers were in full bloom, and in nearly every colour: violets, reds, yellows etc. Darla got a close look at each one of them, she also got to smell each one as well. Each also had their own unique scent. Then she saw the biggest, and most beautiful flower in the patch, the flower seemed to have it's petals bunched up, each of the petals were a vibrant blue almost violet colour. Darla had to get a closer look at the flower, The scent was practically heavenly, but as soon as the torchic came one step closer, the flower moved on it's own! The flower soon revealed itself as one of the hands of a small pixie-like character. It was a Roselia, a grass type that have thorns that leak poison.

"Rrro-ro! Roseeeelia!" (("what are you doing here, get out of my flowers!")) It didn't seem too happy to have a fire pokemon like Darla come disturb her patch of flowers. (("Keep your fire away from me! Go away! NOW!!!")) Darla didn't know what she meant, she only wanted to enjoy the flowers. However, what she did not know was that fire type pokemon, like Darla, could easily set fire to the flower patch and burn it up instantly.

"Why do you want me do go away? I only want to smell your flowers!" Darla spoke. As soon as the human words came out of Darla's mouth, she regretted saying them and wished she just obeyed the roselia's wishes. The Roselia was stunned when she heard Darla speak human.

(("you... Speak human?")) The roselia was not angry as before, but now she was puzzled. This seemed to be a normal reaction when anyone met Darla, mostly because pokemon that could speak human were so rare that they were practically unheard of. Just like other pokemon, the roselia did not know what to make of the young torchic.

(("I suppose I can let you stay in my patch for a little bit... But don't you dare use ember here!")) The roselia said with a huff. The thorn pokemon left Darla alone to sniff the rest of the flowers, but kept an eye on her so she didn't accidentally burn it up. Darla was quite confused about what the roselia was angry about. She didn't even know what an ember attack was. Could it have been the same attack the other torchic used on her back at the barn used on her when she first hatched? It wasn't a very nice attack, being on the receiving end of it, she now knew how the roselia would feel. Besides, she didn't seem to know how to use ember, but to be safe, she wasn't going to try it here and now.

After looking at each of the flowers, Darla's stomach began to rumble with hunger. She hadn't eaten since this morning, and she was starving. She also wanted to know what pokemon around here ate as well. "I'm getting a bit hungry, do you know where I can get something to eat?" The roselia motioned with her rose-hands towards a grove with a few trees. (("The trees there produce lovely fruit, I guess you may like some of them, never hurts to try...")) The roselia seemed a bit annoyed at the strange talking pokemon who was romping through her flowers, but Darla didn't seem to notice. The young chick pokemon scampered of towards the grove.

There were two trees that had fruit on them in this grove. One tree grew sweet red razz berries, and the other grew juicy looking bluk berries. Unfortunately, both of the tree's berries seemed to be well out of reach of Darla, who was getting famished. Due to her paralysing fear of heights and tiny wings, climbing up them was out of the question. She had no choice but to ask the roselia to get them down for her.

(("couldn't you get them down yourself?")) the roselia was getting more annoyed with Darla. "This fire pokemon first invades her patch of flowers and now it wants me to give it food? What's the deal with this talking pokemon?" The roselia thought.

"I'd get them myself..." Darla started to say with a sad tone, "but I'm too small to reach them" With an annoyed sigh, the roselia walked with Darla towards the berry trees.

(("MAGICAL LEAF!")) Roselia spun around a few times and released a few shining leaves, the hovered like discs and zoomed towards each the berry's stems, they were quite agile for each of them clipped each from where it hung on both trees. The berries, with no way to hang themselves, fell to the ground. Darla was amazed by the roselia's attack, and she was very happy that she could finally eat the razz and bluk berries.

"Would you like some?" Darla asked the roselia politely. The roselia accepted the favour and took a bluk berry, she then walked away to leave Darla with the rest of the berries. She could decide which to try first. She took a razz berry with her foot and took a nip of it. It was very sweet with a hint of spiciness, Darla liked it a little. She then decided to try the bluk berries. She took one with her foot, the dark bluish purple juice smeared on her toes. She took a bite of this one, It was just as sweet as the razz berry, but it also tasted of something else. Whatever it was though, it was the tastiest thing Darla ever had. So Darla decided to gorge herself on the berry feast.

When all the bluk and razz berries as well, Darla was covered with stains all over, her beak and her face seemed to be one big purple blotch, her orange body and yellow wings were also covered in the gooey mess. Her legs, feet, and toes were just as sticky and messy as the rest of her. Darla didn't seem to mind though. With a full tummy, Darla began to feel a bit sleepy. She went to a big shady tree to have a nap.

The tree was the largest tree Darla had ever seen, it's thick branches were covered in green foliage, which shielded the light in some places, but let in some in others, creating a lovely dappled effect. Darla thought it was the perfect place to take a nap. She walked over to the base of the tree, and sat right down, she then stretched her messy legs and spread her sticky toes out like small juice-stained fans. As she looked at her feet, she wondered a bit about herself, not just about how useful her feet were to her, but also how different she was to other pokemon, she didn't seem to speak their language, yet she understood it quite well. She also seemed to speak a language that pokemon referred to as human language. Darla never really talked to a human being before, would the be more accepting? Or would they be just as confused about her as pokemon were? As she was thinking of all these things, she let out a big yawn, her eyelids were getting heavy as well, she was beginning to drift of to sleep. Life was very peaceful here, it would have been better if she had someone to share this with, but she didn't mind being alone here right now though. She was a very unique torchic, she thought to herself. With these thoughts, she fell of to sleep under the big tree, the wind gently caressing her juice covered sticky body.


	5. The Night Life

Chapter 5: the night life

Darla was having a pleasant dream, much more pleasant then the one she had in the barn. Despite being asleep, she was still active. There was a small smile under the bluk berry stains on her face. Her fluffy yellow wings twitched a little every so often. The most activity coming from Darla though, seemed to be from her feet. The three toes on each foot seemed too be wriggling, like they have lives of their own, rather then just being toes attached to a torchic's foot. This must have been a sure sign that Darla was happy. But what Darla didn't know was that she was not alone.

There was someone else close to the tree as well, concealed in the bushes. The only part one could see of it was a nose. It was a small nose, but a powerful one, it was black and square-shaped. The face it belonged on was a furry pattern of light brown and dark brown, in the form of wavy stripes. It also had a black mask over it's eyes. It was a zigzagoon. It had smelt the berries from a couple of yards away and wanted to eat some, but all it found was a sleeping torchic. Being curious, like how a zigzagoon should be, it was intrigued by the sleeping pokemon. So it wanted to have a closer look. So he crawled out of the bushes he was hiding in and waddled towards the sleeping Darla. He moved slowly and quietly not to disturb her. He crept closer and closer. Until he was just right next to her, he then got a good smell of Darla: she smelled of many things, bluk berries, razz berries, flowers, and of torchic. A human nose wouldn't be able to distinguish the different smells from each other, but this zigzagoon's nose could. He then decided to go even further, he started to lick the bluk berry juice of Darla's face. It was then that Darla woke with a start, she was quite startled to find a strange pokemon licking her while she was asleep. The Zigzagoon was just as startled as well, and ran of back into the bushes.

Darla was awake now. She noticed that the sun was setting, and the sky was glowing a pinkish orange colour, much like the sky does each time the sun sets. She wondered what night was like outside. She knew it was dark, but was it just as dark outside as it was in the barn? Darla had to see. She also noticed that dirt and wood chips was beginning to stick to her feet and toes, making them itch. It must have been the berry juice. Not only were they staining her legs black, but they were also making them sticky. She needed to find a way to wash it of. She walked around for a few minutes until she found what she was looking for.

The young torchic came to a lake. It was a quite lake which had a surface that looked like it was made of glass. The setting sun was also being reflected on the surface of the water, making it the same colour as the sky. It was a beautiful site, but Darla wasn't concerned about it right now. Her feet were getting itchy as dirt and sand were getting stuck to them. The young torchic's feet were quite sensitive. As she walked along the lake's edge, she tried to find the perfect spot to sit down. Being a fire type, she didn't want to fall in and drown. When she had found the perfect spot, she got really close to the edge of the water, she dipped both of her feet into the water. It was cool and refreshing on her toes, and they didn't itch anymore. The water was shallow enough that her toes can touch and prod the soft mud at the bottom. She dug them as deep as they could go, and grabbed some. she then brought her left foot above the water. the mud oozed out of her toes and fell into the water with small plopping sounds, and created ripples. As she was doing this, Darla had many questions about her: Why was she able to speak like a human? What was her goal in life? Does she have a family? Will she ever find them? There were so many questions she wanted answers to.

As she sat, the sky was getting darker and darker, the night was beginning. In the sky, a big white circle appeared, it was the moon. Stars were also appearing in the night sky. Darla was in awe of this, as she swelled her feet in the lake, which was reflecting the night sky on it's surface. She also saw that some of the stars seemed to be moving in the sky. She tried to get a closer look, she saw that they were in fact, Volbeat and Illumise, who were making patterns on top of the lake. As she looked closer, she started to tip, she screamed and suddenly... SPLASH! She fell in the water! The young pokemon hated getting wet, being a fire type, this was natural. Luckily, the water was only 2 inches deep, so she wouldn't drown. Darla quickly picked herself of and got out of the water as fast as she could. When she got out, she was soaking wet from head to toe, and she wanted a place to dry of. So she started walking away from the lake.

It was dark, and Darla was cold and wet. She didn't like this at all, and she was getting lost. She seemed to have been wandering around a bit for quite some time now. Occasionally she would trip over a tree root or rock that was in front of her but invisible in the darkness of the night. Eventually, She found what appeared to be lights in the distance. They glowed and twinkled just like the stars in the night sky. Something about them fascinated Darla as she gazed at the horizon. She wanted to go towards the bright lights, but it was very late and she felt sleepy. She found a small nook on the side of a tree, No one seemed to be home. It was the perfect place to dry herself and get some sleep. Then she could continue towards the lights tomorrow. Maybe she might find her family there. As she lay down to sleep, she wished upon a star, hoping she might find a purpose and happiness. Her eyelids were getting heavy, and soon drifted of to sleep, her toes soon wriggled by themselves once more in the darkness of the night.


	6. The Big City

Chapter 6: The big city

Darla awoke from her small nook under the tree. It was daytime, but it seemed different from yesterday, it wasn't bright and sunny. Instead the sky was as grey as the dream she had at the barn. Darla also felt drops of water fall on her face.

She needed to know where the lights she saw last night were coming from. She peeked out from over a tree root. In the distance she saw was nothing like she's ever seen before now. Instead of trees or fields on the ground, there were plenty of grey slabs of rock, all of them seemed to be cubed shaped, but they were very big. Each of these grey complexes also had hundreds, and on the bigger ones, thousands, of shiny panels on each of them. All of them in perfect rows and columns all along the sides of the structures. Whatever they were, the didn't seem to be made by pokemon. They looked similar to the barn she was born, only much bigger. "People must live there" Darla thought to herself, maybe she could live there and be a human as well. So she ran of towards the city.

The city Darla had decided to go was a city called Mauville. It was a crossroad city, meaning that people came from all around to either get to the city or simply pass through. As she was heading towards Mauville, she noticed the landscape changing. The trees were slowly being replaced by tall buildings, and the ground beneath her feet was changing from soft grass, to hard ground, which finally gave way to solid concrete. The air in the city wasn't as clean as the air outside of it. The rain was also getting harder, the tiny drops were replace by big fat wet ones. In some places, puddles formed. Darla saw some water pokemon playing in these puddles. Darla tried her best to avoid them though, she didn't want to get more wet then she already was. When she got into the city, Darla was amazed at the size of the buildings, they were much bigger then the trees she had seen yesterday they towered over her. They were also not as alive as the trees were. The torchic felt quite small and insignificant compared to the skyscrapers.

Darla was getting more wet by the rain. She needed to find a place to keep dry. There were so many things that she's never seen in her three days of life. There were huge metal box shaped things that rolled on four wheels through the streets. Darla avoided them because they didn't seem too friendly, plus they seemed to make big splashes when they went through puddles in the street. There were also people, people seemed to come in all shapes, sizes and colours. Unlike pokemon, who mostly looked just like another of their own kind, no to people looked the same. However no one seemed to notice the young torchic. Darla had a hard time trying to avoid being stepped by someone's shoe. She needed to find a place to rest for a bit

She ran into a dark alley way, in there she found a empty cardboard box which would make a great shelter from the rain. Darla huddled up inside the box and sat down. She was beginning to regret coming to the city. Would she be able to make it in Mauville? She may be a tiny torchic in a big city, but she vowed she would make a name for herself. She also vowed that she would find someone to love and take care of her, she didn't like living alone by herself. The torchic needed to know where to start to reach her goal.

Darla noticed a newspaper just outside the box. It was a copy of "The Mauville Gazette", it little wet from the rain, but it was still in good condition. She was intrigued by it, she's never seen the markings on the page before, but she could understand what it meant perfectly. Not only can she talk human, but she can read human as well.

Darla skimmed through each page of the newspaper, turning each page with her foot. Finding out what humans did and what they thought was important. Most of the stuff she found uninteresting. Though some things did spark her interest, such as stories about pokemon. She read and learned a great deal from the newspaper. What interested her the most was the job listing page, she figured that humans had jobs to do in their society. Why they did their jobs was mysterious to her however, but if she wanted to make a name for herself, she had to start somewhere. She saw an add for a job:

Wanted: someone who is dependable, honest and a hard worker

Pay: $7 an hour

Where: Bun-Bun Bakery

She didn't know what a bakery was, or what "$7 and hour" meant, but she thought she was dependable, honest and a hard worker. Darla decided then and there that she would get a job at the bakery. She would have to wait for the rain to let up first. As she waited, she had started to think about what sort of family she would like to be in. She slowly drifted of to sleep once more, listening to the patter of the rain as it fell on the box.


	7. Night in the City

Chapter 7: Night in the city

Darla woke up to a drop of water falling on her head. She looked upward to find that the cardboard box she slept in had a leak in it. It must have become too weak to make a good shelter now. She got to her feet and ran out just before the soggy box caved in on itself. This had of course upset Darla because she now had to place to sleep, and it was getting dark. As the sun slowly went below the horizon, one by one the streetlights were turned on. They glowed brightly in the dark, attracting dozens of small insects, which in turn attracted some Venomoth and a few Dustox. The small torchic had been attracted to the city by these lights in the first place, but now that she's seen what they really are up close, they didn't seem that interesting.

Darla remembered something important. The newspaper she had before. She must have forgotten it in the cardboard box! It's probably just as soaked as the newspaper, but she did remember the name of the place. Only she didn't know where it was. Darla had no choice but to look for it in streets of Mauville. Just like the box, the concrete sidewalk was just as drenched from the shower they had, and everything was very damp. Even the air seemed to have a fine mist within the street, which was illuminated by the streetlights, creating an eerie and gloomy atmosphere.

The streets was no place for a small pokemon to be wandering around at this time of night. So Darla was extra careful. She was also careful not to step into any puddles along the way. Even with the streetlights on, the streets were still quite dark. She wandered around the city for over an hour, she noticed that the tall buildings were slowly being replaced by townhouses. As she was walking along the street, all of a sudden...

"HUEERU!!!, HUEERU!!!" A huge black pokemon jumped out of a bush in someone's front yard. It was a Houndoom, and it was very angry. It rushed straight for Darla. This of course terrified the small pokemon. Darla screamed very loudly and her heart beating like crazy. She ran away as fast as her legs could carry her.

The tiny torchic was incredibly fast for a pokemon her size. A few times, she flapped her tiny useless wings in a vain attempt to fly away like how most bird pokemon could. She tripped over herself, but she kept on running. She didn't even care that she fell into puddles, she had to get away from that scary pokemon as fast as she could. As she kept running, she ran into what appeared to be some sort of wire fence, not wanting to be eaten, she desperately tried to squeeze through it in a hole that was big enough for her. She didn't notice a sharp piece of wire that was sticking out. The sharp wire scratched her cheek, the cut started to bleed, but Darla was far too afraid of being attacked by the Houndoom to care. When she finally got through the wire fence, she heard the angry pokemon's barks growing fainter and fainter, Luckily the Houndoom was tied to a chain in the yard so it didn't get too far. Darla ran over ten blocks when she realized that the canine pokemon wasn't chasing her anymore.

Darla, having had the scare of a lifetime, finally stopped in the middle of what seemed to be a park. She didn't notice that it no one was there as she was incredibly run down and gasping for breath by the time she stopped to rest.

Her little body burned with fatigue, her bleeding cheek stung, her knees trembled, her feet were very sore, even her arms, which were not much use to her ached. She was so weak from running that she felt dizzy and light-headed. Her throat had become raw from screaming, which probably woke up most of the houses on the street. She didn't feel good at all. It didn't take much for the torchic to collapse onto the cold wet grass of the park. Darla didn't seem to mind being cooled down by the dew. It was very welcome after that horrid experience. Right then she passed out. On the grass within the quiet and deserted park.


	8. The Pokemon Center

Chapter 8: the pokemon center

"How is are little friend is doing?"

"Chan, Chansey!" ((Nurse Joy, I think she's waking up!))

It took a while, but Darla had finally gathered enough strength to open her eyes and gain conciseness. She had a look around, things were very different from what she remembered, she last remembered being outside in a park somewhere, she remembered running and fainting in the middle of it as well. Now it looked like she was inside a room somewhere. It was as big as the barn she was born in, but it was much brighter.

Darla looked around her, she was on a white bed of some sort, her head was resting on a soft marshmallow pillow. The air smelled of the lemony scent of floor cleaner as it wafted up from the linoleum floor. The walls were a soft yellow that had framed pictures of pokemon on them. To Darla's left, there was a table with a vase, inside the vase, there were flowers that reminded Darla of the fields she played in a few days before. There was also a window where the sunlight could stream through to make the room brighter. It would have a pleasant room to be in, had it not been for the strange equipment that she was wired up to. All along her body there were small wires that measured her vital signs and other stuff to show how well she was recovering. She also had a bandage on her cheek so the cut could heal. The scariest thing was what there was an IV tube with a needle that had been attached directly into her ankle. Darla had felt scared, but then she didn't need to be, because she was not alone in the room.

Standing besides Darla's bedside, was a woman and her pokemon. The woman had red, almost pinkish curly hair. She wore an nurse's outfit, complete with a nurse's hat on top. Her eyes shone with life and she had a small, but warm smile on her face. It was very easy to tell from her face that she was a kind and very caring person. Besides her was a Chansey, a pink and round pokemon, it also wore a nurse's hat. Darla somehow knew she wouldn't be in any danger with them in the room. The Chansey had also said that the woman's name was Nurse Joy.

"Well now, Torchic seems to be pulling through after all, that's good..." The nurse's voice was sweet and caring as she was. "...But now who does it belong to?"

Darla wanted to answer her, but then she thought that if she spoke a word in human, she probably would have been considered a freak. So Darla simply said nothing. It was weird. When most pokemon speak, they only speak their species' name, but somehow they can still get their point across, yet if Darla had said "Torchic" it would just saying the word "Torchic". She couldn't say what she really wanted to say, to pokemon or human, without being given weird looks or considered a freak.

"Don't worry, we'll find your trainer soon." Nurse Joy then carefully took the IV needle out of Darla's ankle. She winced as a small amount of blood oozed a bit from the hole left behind, but the chansey put a band aid on it. "There, can you move your toes well?" Darla didn't answer or say a thing. It was a little sore. "You'll be all right, but you need some more rest first." Nurse Joy said as she patted Darla with her soft gentle hands. The small torchic snuggled against her pillow and drifted of to sleep.

When all was settled, Nurse Joy and chansey quietly walked out of Darla's room and continued down the hall. The hall was much like Darla's room, cream coloured walls, framed pictures of pokemon and lemony scent. Nurse Joy was quite concerned with the injured pokemon. Firstly, it was found all alone and unconscious in the middle of a park and was taken to the pokemon center.

"It's terrible that someone would abandon a young pokemon like that... Who would do such an awful thing?" thought Nurse Joy as she went along the corridor that lead her to her front desk. Another thing that puzzled Nurse Joy was that this torchic was unusually quite, most pokemon would at least reply with some utterance of voice, like a growl or something. This torchic didn't make any sound whatsoever. She had a few hunches about this mysterious pokemon, but she couldn't be too sure unless found out more about it. Nurse Joy also wanted to find it's trainer, or find a new one for the poor pokemon.

It was a few days and Darla had recovered from her wounds, but Darla had decided not to make any sounds for fear of being considered a freak. Nurse Joy had decided to run some tests on Darla before letting anyone adopt it. She made physical measurements of it. Aside from having feet and toes that were more flexible, muscular and more dextrous then most other torchics, it was physically normal. Darla also had some psychological tests and Nurse Joy monitored the young torchic as it interacted with other pokemon. Darla was a little odd when other pokemon made attempts to be friends with her. It was put in a pen with trainer's pokemon who came to be healed and for check-ups at the pokemon center, many pokemon came to say hello and tried to talk to Darla, but she usually didn't notice until they approached her and made her play in their games. Even then she seemed reluctant to take an active part in some games.

Joy and other pokemon as well also noticed some eccentricities the torchic had. She had peculiar table manners, instead of pecking her food like how torchics usually do, she would use her toes to pick up individual pieces of food and pop it into her mouth. It was strange to watch, and she had been given the nickname "Fingertoes" by Nurse Joy and the local trainers of the mauville pokemon center. Darla didn't seem to mind at all, in fact, she liked it. Although it would have been nice if people called her Darla instead.

Living in the pokemon center was very nice, but she really wanted to be with a real family. Aside from Nurse Joy's chansey, she was the only pokemon who lived in the pokemon center, but she did have friends who visited and played with her, but it wasn't the same as a real family.


	9. Silence is Broken

Chapter 9: Silence is broken

It was another day at the pokemon center. Darla had just finished breakfast and was waiting, waiting for her friends to come and play. Even though she seemed antisocial for a pokemon, she really loved it when trainers came to the center to heal their pokemon. It had been a few weeks since Darla had first arrived at the center as a battered and bruised torchic. She had recovered from her physical wounds, but not from her emotional ones. She was still just as quite as ever, the pokemon didn't seem to speak or understand neither pokemon or human.

The small Torchic was also looked upon as an object of pity. Considered mute and unable to understand people or pokemon, they thought that even though she could hear them, she wouldn't be able to understand her trainer's commands or the opposing pokemon, she would be useless in a real battle. Thus no one was willing to adopt her. What no one knew however, was that Darla could definitely understand everything that was going on, she simply chose not to respond.

The young torchic often followed people around the center, usually, that person was Nurse Joy, but she usually didn't mind. However, this habit could get her into a bit of trouble.

Today wasn't much different, Darla walked around the center with Nurse Joy. She was treating some pokemon who were injured in a battle against a tough opponent. The small torchic often wondered why so many hurt pokemon came here to be hurt. Were humans often mean to pokemon? It was possible, but the pokemon didn't seem angry towards their human companions, in fact they seemed very happy.

It was around noon now. Darla was quietly eating her lunch in her strange way, picking each piece with her foot and popping it into her mouth. Nurse Joy was busy with her computer, checking up on files of the pokemon that need treatment. The strange man who sat in the center waiting room everyday was busy talking to himself or anyone else in earshot. Everything was quite normal. Then he arrived. A trainer had just stormed in all angry over something. The dust from his clothes fell onto the just cleaned floor. The mud from his shoes made prints everywhere he stepped. He occasionally muttered stuff under his breath, something Darla didn't really understand, but knew that it shouldn't be repeated. His brown spiky hair was quite scraggly and in need of a wash, and his face was contorted in a snarl that was quite scary. He managed to get a lot of people's an pokemon's attention when he entered. Who ever this person was, he was obviously very angry and should not be messed with.

When he got to the front desk, he gave his pokeballs to Nurse Joy. "Heal my pokemon" he said with a hint of anger in his voice. Nurse Joy didn't like the tone or the way this person acted at all. "Okay, I'll give your pokemon some treatment, but you must do something about that attitude" Nurse Joy was displeased with this trainer. As she took the pokeballs into a back room behind the desk, the trainer muttered something else under his breath. Darla thought she heard a "Shut up" from him.

Darla understood that this person seemed very mean. This was the same sort of meanness she experienced when she tried to make friends with the other torchics back at the farm. "Maybe I can make him feel better" Darla naively thought as she finished her food. She walked up to the trainer and made a cute face. He didn't or at least pretend not to notice. Darla then went to rub against his dusty pants for affection. She usually did this to trainers she thought needed cheering up, it usually worked, but not in this case.

"What are you doing you stupid torchic?" He asked in the same tone he had when he talked to nurse Joy. The young Torchic didn't take notice and kept on rubbing his pants. The dust was being wiped of his clothing and settling on to her face, but she did not notice that either. The trainer was getting more and more annoyed until he could not take it any longer.

"Leave me alone!" He said angrily at Darla. Now, she would have usually just ran away from him, but she just stopped and made the most adorable face she could. However, he was not pleased at all. "GO AWAY!" He yelled and he kicked Darla away. Everyone in the waiting was shocked at this act. The little torchic got up, and now she was angry, but she didn't know what she could do. She ran towards the trainer and started to scratch him with her foot in frustration. It didn't seem to do much to the trainer's rough, dusty jeans. The angry trainer then grabbed the small but angry pokemon by the ankle and held her upside down.

Darla was in absolute terror. She was upside down and 4 ft from the ground, the young torchic tried to struggle free but she didn't want to fall either. Darla started to cry. "Aww... What's the matter? Scared of heights?" The trainer said tauntingly, he then shook Darla a few times. He continued to shake the small torchic until someone cried out

"STOP THAT RIGHT NOW!" A voice shouted from across the pokemon center, it was another pokemon trainer, her long flowing chestnut hair flowed behind her as she ran towards the cruel trainer and the distressed torchic. "Why are you bullying that torchic Albert? It wasn't doing anything wrong to you!"

"This stupid weak pokemon was bothering me" Albert said as he kept dangling the small torchic by the ankle. Darla had enough of this, it seemed she just could not remain silent any longer. So she decided that she would not be ruled by her fears any longer. After weeks of being in silence, She then let out a huge shriek that stunned everyone in the center.

"PLEASE LET ME GO!!!" The usually small voice cried out. Heads turned, and everything became silent as a voice they never heard before was heard for the first time. In shock, Albert dropped the small torchic, but she didn't seem to scream. She fell to the ground with a thud. She wasn't hurt but she didn't like it at all. The small Torchic them went running down the hall of the pokemon center


	10. Confessions

Chapter 10: Confessions

Darla ran down the hall, she was frightened by her experience with the mean trainer, and now that her secret is out, she would be considered a freak by her friends at the pokemon center. She quickly ran into a broom closet and hid in some old rags. The smell of lemon cleaner was quite strong, but Darla didn't mind, she hid there and began to sob to herself.

When nurse joy got back from the back room of the pokemon center, she was told about the incident with Darla and the Pokemon Trainer. "What?! How could you act like that to a pokemon? It's terrible! I'm very disappointed in you." Nurse Joy was quite upset, Albert sort of did regret what he did to the young torchic, "I... I am sorry Nurse Joy, it won't happen again" Now they were curious about how this torchic, who everyone thought was absolutely silent, could in fact, speak human. They needed to find Darla. The young Torchic couldn't have left the pokemon Center, so Nurse Joy, the long-haired trainer, who was named Nicola and Albert went to look for her all over the center.

Nicola was searching down a hall for the torchic, when she heard a faint sobbing down coming from a closet. She looked inside, she could hear the sobbing, but couldn't see anyone.

"Is anyone in here?" She called into the closet. The sobbing stopped. Darla was quite again but she decided to gather enough courage to answer back.

"Yes" Darla said a small voice from underneath the rags.

"Why are you hiding from us?" Asked the young trainer. "Because everybody probably thinks of me a freak, or an accident" Answered the sad pokemon. "We don't think that at all! We only want to be your friend" Nicola said. Darla was surprised, people didn't think of her as a freak? She could not believe it. She got up from out from underneath the rags, and looked at Nicola. She looked into her green eyes, they were warm and inviting, and exuded sincerity. Darla knew she could trust her. "Really?" Asked Darla for reassurance. "Yes" Nicola replied, "there are some people who really want to get to know you, don't be afraid."

Darla followed this person down the hall with unsteady steps. She seemed to be a nice person. Maybe this trainer could be the one thing Darla had always wanted. Someone she could get close to, someone to love her, but did Nicola feel the same way about her?

They got to the front desk of the pokemon center, Nurse Joy and Albert were there. "I found the torchic." Nicola said.

"Excuse me, but my name is Darla" the small torchic said casually. Joy and Albert were astonished by Darla's ability to talk human. Darla felt a little nervous, but it soon gave way to confidence as she told her story from her escape from the torchic farm to when she got to the center, her audience was captivated not because of her story, but also because she spoke to fluently in human. When she was finished, Albert and Nicola then introduced themselves to Darla.

"Um... Hi... My name's Albert, I'm sorry for what I did to you earlier, I'm not usually that angry, I was just very frustrated and angry for losing an important gym battle, I'm a nice guy." Darla forgave Albert by shaking his hand with her foot.

Nicola then introduced herself, "My name is Nicola, It's nice to meet you" She also shook Darla's foot. The young torchic then summoned up enough courage to ask the question

"Er... Nicola... um... could I... um... be your pokemon...?" Darla stammered with embarrassment. Nicola was shocked at first, but this gave way to acceptance. "Yes... I would love you to be my pokemon, if it's okay with Nurse Joy". Darla and Nicola both looked at Nurse Joy, she was happy to see someone finally giving the small pokemon a home "Yes, of course you can" Darla was overjoyed, she had finally got her wish to be in a family all her own.

After weeks of staying at the center, Darla was finally able to leave it and go to a real home, with her new trainer, but she didn't think of Nicola as her trainer, she thought of her more as her mother. Either way, she had finally found happiness and an identity for herself.


End file.
